Guardian Piece on Sousa Mendes

Today my piece on visiting the Casa do Passal and the Legacy of Sousa Aristides de Sousa Mendes was published on the Guardian CiF. It looks at the failure to truly honor his memory as well as  how even today there are those with the power to decide to break a rule or a law to save lives.  Here’s an excerpt, please click the link to read the whole thing:

“So you’ve seen our shame, our disgrace?” Those were the first words from an older gentleman wearing a sash along the parade route. It is carnival in Cabanas de Viriato, the ancestral home of Portuguese second world war hero Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and I’m walking alongside Francisco Antonio Campos, director of the local philharmonic.

He sounds frustrated as he stares in any direction to avoid looking at theghastly abandoned mansion looming over us in the town square. More than 70 years since Sousa Mendes, a diplomat assigned to the consulate in Bordeaux, saved over 30,000 people from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, his story remains largely unknown and his majestic home, Casa do Passal, is falling to pieces.

Abandoned Casa do Passal
Casa do Passal, What is left of it.

Note: For those in the NYC/Long Island area, there is a special event being put on by the Sousa Mendes Foundation on Saturday in Mineola. Full details here.

Solidarity with Immigrants in Portugal

The other organizations throughout Europe that work to help immigrants are in awe of what we do here, something they have been unable to do,” Timóteo explains with ethusiastic hand gestures in the air, “to run an organization for immigrants that is completely autonomous and not dependent on government or international funds.” He repeats this point to make sure everyone in the room has understood, this place and the people in it, are one of a kind in Europe and perhaps even the world. When you, as an immigrant, come to the cramped but welcoming offices of Solidariedade Imigrante in downtown Lisbon seeking help with a problem, this organization with over 19,000 members does not just feel sorry for you and start on the problem, first they explain who they are and what their mission is. They also invite that person to become a member of this multi-faceted organization, which involves getting a membership card for a 2 euro a month fee.

Timóteo Macedo, President of Solidariedade Imigrant looks me square in the eye to make sure I’m listening, “Help is a reciprocal process. We must help each other. Your problem is not unique to you, many others have gone through it, and they can now help you. Just as you can help someone else one day, or right now, you can help us pay the electric bill, for example.” He also goes over the growing force within Portugal that this organization has become, “In the late 90’s when we started, an immigrant could be stopped by the police and arrested on the spot like a criminal. That is not true anymore, now you cannot be arrested. Because we fought this policy, in the halls of government and on the streets. And the government had to take notice.

Walking from room to room it is hard to ignore the number of people and the diversity of the faces and accents all around. Many seem to be waiting to speak with someone, perhaps about their own issues with legal documents and paperwork. Others are sitting in two’s around a table in the middle of the room, busy explaining what specific pages mean. Their Portuguese is accented and their patience and expertise indicates they themselves have been through this process at one time not so long ago.  The walls have inspirational quotes in Portuguese, along with hand drawn flags; the red crescent, the globe from the Brazilian flag, the spinning wheel from the Indian flag.  Every now and then a wall has an invitation to an upcoming event; debates, dinners, rallies, etc. I notice there has recently been a Hungarian night consisting of traditional music and food, a local volunteer by the name of Christof explains that members themselves take the lead for such events, “Sometimes members might decide to do their own events about their own culture, and so we might have Russian lessons or a Russian night, for example.” He goes on to explain a long list of services the organization provides, including: job training, youth counseling, housing assistance, and language instruction.  As he gets into very involved and impressive details, I’m distracted by another office we’ve walked into with a bank of computers and tall book shelves adorned with signs that read “Please respect the order the books are in, they belong to all of us.

As our meeting draws to an end Timóteo turns the conversation towards my own work and asks what I’ve been working on during this visit to Portugal. I explain my visit to the home of Aristides de Sousa Mendes and my interest in spreading the word about his story and his legacy.  Timóteo nods like my words make perfect sense. “In this place we are Aristides de Sousa Mendes… we save lives everyday.  First and foremost we value human lives… -The law comes second,” he smiles.

Casa do Passal 2011

Artistides de Sousa Mendes saved the lives of over 30,000 people in Southern France in 1940. He did so in defiance of orders from the Portuguese Dictator who in turn disgraced him and blacklisted him, eventually leaving him in poverty. This included the loss of Casa do Passal his iconic family home in Cabanas de Viriato.

Only decades later was his name restored and the story of his heroic deed recognized throughout the world. However at this very moment his magnificent home continues to be neglected and teeters on the brink of collapse, waiting for a plan to be approved and carried out, to restore it as a symbol and tribute to those in this world who don’t just follow orders and who take action to help others regardless of the risk to themselves.

I had a chance to visit Casa do Passal during Carnaval in Cabanas over the past few days.  The following video contains moments from that visit.

Restoring and Reconnecting: The Legacy of Sousa Mendes

Gerald Mendes was born in Canada and raised with the story of his grandfather Aristides de Sousa Mendes. As he grew up he came to learn not only about the history of his family, but also about those that the actions of his grandfather during WWII helped to save. At a restaurant in Paris we sat down recently to talk about his family, his life experiences, and his activities related to the legacy of his grandfather.

We mention:

The Sousa Mendes Committee in France

As well as the book: Aristides de Sousa Mendes, héros “rebelle”, juin 1940 – Souvenirs et témoignages by Manuel Dias Vaz

Sousa Mendes: Defying Orders to Save Lives

Aristides de Sousa Mendes

He died disgraced and impoverished, asking his children to one day clear his name. Decades later, the story of how that man, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, helped save thousands upon thousands of lives during World War II, is finally spreading around the world.

Today his family and descendants of those that were saved by his actions are working to restore not only his name, legacy, and to ensure that his story lives on.

My guest on this podcast is one of the founders of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, herself the daughter and grand daughter of Sousa Mendes visa recipients: Olivia Mattis. In this conversation she tells the story of Sousa Mendes, what became of her family after making it to Portugal, and eventually how this foundation came to exist.

For more information on Sousa Mendes as well as theSousa Mendes Foundation, follow the links above. You can also find them on facebook.

bmtv76 Forgotten Portuguese WWII Hero

Aristides de Sousa Mendes ignored the orders of the facist Portuguese government during WWII, by helping people escape to Portugal. A diplomat in Bordeaux, he gave visas to thousands of Jewish and nonJewish refugees trying to escape the Nazi occupation. When it was discovered, he was fired, disgraced, and died poor dishonored by his country. More than 50 years later, the truth is finally coming to light of the around 30,000 lives he helped save, and the plight that he suffered at the hands of the facist Portuguese government. This screencast is me getting to know this story, which was the topic of the evening for my family here in Brussels.